Purpose

This article provides steps which may be useful when upgrading to ESX/ESXi 4.1 and vCenter Server 4.1.

Notes:

This article assumes that you have read the vSphere Upgrade Guide.This upgrade guide contains definitive information. If there is a discrepancy between the guide and this article, assume that the guide is correct.

Note: vCenter Server 4.1 requires a 64-bit operating system and will not install on a 32-bit operating system. For more information, see the Operating System Compatibility for vSphere Client, vCenter Server, and VMware vCenter Update Manager section of the vSphere Compatibility Matrix.

Log in to your vCenter Server with a Local Administrator account on your Windows system to run the upgrade.

Ensure no processes are running that conflict with the ports that vCenter Server uses.

Configure any new vSphere 4.1 licences.

Update Manager

You can run the Update Manager on any system that meets the minimum hardware requirements. Minimum hardware requirements for Update Manager vary depending on how the Update Manager is deployed. If the database is installed on the same machine as Update Manager, requirements for memory size and processor speed are higher.

To ensure acceptable performance, make sure that you meet the minimum requirements.

Hardware

The minimum hardware requirements are:

Processor – Intel or AMD x86 processor with two or more logical cores, each with a speed of 2GHz.

Network – 10/100 Mbps. (For best performance, use a Gigabit connection between Update Manager and the ESX/ESXi)

Memory – 2GB RAM if Update Manager and vCenter Server are on different machines.

Memory – 4GB RAM if Update Manager and vCenter Server are on the same machine.

Note: Update Manager uses a SQL Server or Oracle database. You should use a dedicated database for Update Manager and not share it with the database used with vCenter Server, and should back up the database periodically. Best practice is to have the database on the same computer as Update Manager or on a computer in the local network.Depending on the size of your deployment, Update Manager requires a minimum amount of free space per month for database usage. For more information about space requirements, see the VMware vCenter Update Manager Sizing Estimator.

Operating Systems

Update Manager only works with these operating systems:

Windows XP Pro SP2 (SP2 required, 64-bit)

Windows Server 2003 (SP1 required, 64-bit)

Windows Server 2008 (64 bit)

Windows Server 2008 R2 (64-bit)

Note: The Update Manager plug-in requires the vSphere Client, and works with the same operating systems as the vSphere Client.

IMPORTANT: You can install Update Manager 4.1 only on a 64-bit machine.

Database

Update Manager has these specific database requirements:

Note: Update Manager can handle small-scale environments using the bundled SQL Server 2005 Express. For environments with more than 5 hosts and 50 virtual machines, create either an Oracle or a SQL Server database for Update Manager. For large scale environments, you should set up the Update Manager database on a different computer other than the Update Manager server and the vCenter Server database.

SQL Server 2005

SQL Server 2008

Oracle 10g

Oracle 11g

Note: Update Manager 4.1 is compatible only with vCenter Server 4.1. Although multiple versions of the Update Manager Client plug-in might coexist on the same computer, the Update Manager Client plug-in of version 4.1 can be installed and enabled only on vSphere Client 4.1.For more information about the Update Manager compatibility with VirtualCenter Server, vCenter Server, VI Client, and vSphere Client, see the vSphere Compatibility Matrixes.

Required data privileges to the database:

Note: Before you install or upgrade Update Manager, you must create a database and grant a specific list of permissions to the database user. To run Update Manager you can use a set of minimum privileges.

Oracle Database Support

Either assign the DBA role, or grant this set of privileges to the Update Manager Oracle database user:

connect

execute on dbms_lock

create view

create procedure

create table

create sequence

create any sequence

create any table

create type

unlimited tablespace

Microsoft SQL server Database Support:

Make sure that the database user has either a sysadmin server role or the db_owner fixed database role on the Update Manager database and the MSDB database. Although the db_owner role is required for the upgrade, SQL jobs are not created as part of the Update Manager installation or upgrade.

Database privileges needed for using Update Manager:

Oracle

The minimum required privileges of the Oracle database user are:

create session

create any table

drop any table

Microsoft SQL Server

The database user must have either a sysadmin server role or the db_owner fixed database role on the Update Manager database and the MSDB database.

Note: You can install or upgrade the Update Manager server on 64-bit operating systems. Even though Update Manager runs on 64-bit operating systems, it is a 32-bit application and requires a 32-bit DSN.The requirement for a 32-bit DSN applies to all supported databases. By default, any DSN created on a 64-bit system is a 64-bit DSN.

Run the 32-bit ODBC Administrator application, located at %WINDIR%\SysWOW64\odbcad32.exe.

Use the application to create your DSN.You will now have a DSN that is compatible with the Update Manager server. When the Update Manager installer prompts you for a DSN, you should select the 32-bit DSN.